


Gingerbread Biscuits & Interrupting Elves

by Phelpshobbit, StaircaseScorpius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Art, Bad Flirting, Baking, Book: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Brother Feels, Brothers, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Collaboration, Coming Out, Digital Art, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Harry Potter Next Generation, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, James Sirius Potter is a Good Sibling, M/M, Malfoy Manor, Marolley, POV Albus Severus Potter, Post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter Fluff, Sibling Bonding, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21948649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phelpshobbit/pseuds/Phelpshobbit, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaircaseScorpius/pseuds/StaircaseScorpius
Summary: It's the Christmas holidays and Albus and Scorpius have finally found some time to themselves for good old-fashioned muggle-style baking. Although their gingerbread recipe goes more or less to plan, an unexpected visit from Albus's brother James adds a dash of awkwardness and a sprinkle of sibling feels to their afternoon.A Marolley collab - fic by StaircaseScorpius/trolleybitch, art by Phelpshobbit/marisdrawings.
Relationships: Albus Severus Potter & James Sirius Potter, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 189





	Gingerbread Biscuits & Interrupting Elves

‘Oh my _god._ ’

‘I know, it got a bit messy. I’ll clear it up, I promise, I just-’

‘Scorp, I only left this room for fifteen minutes! What did you do, use _bombarda_ on the baking cupboard?’

There was flour everywhere. Scorpius was standing in the middle of the Malfoy Manor kitchen, covered in white dust and looking around at the chaos - the floor was half-carpeted in white and so was the counter. He met Albus’s eyes sheepishly. ‘I was trying to use the mixer…’ 

Albus approached, trying not to laugh at Scorpius as he shook flour out of his now even-whiter hair. The muggle kitchen mixer was standing on the counter, whisks exposed in an altogether threatening manner. ‘Why were you trying to use that thing? I thought you said you were doing gingerbread, you’ve made it before without that.’ 

Scorpius gave his hair one final shake and started to brush at the sleeves of his jumper, where the flour was settling into the chunky knitted wool. He turned to look down at the mixer next to Albus. ‘I wanted to try and do it all without magic,’ he said, with a hint of petulance. ‘I thought Dad would appreciate it. And you weren’t here to help.’ 

‘I really don’t think they’re supposed to need two people to operate, you know. Besides, I had to go get you this, didn’t I.’ Albus offered one of the takeaway cups he was holding to Scorpius. ‘You’re welcome, by the way.’ 

Scorpius looked down at the cups and took his enthusiastically. ‘What is it?’ 

‘Hot chocolate with mint,’ Albus replied, and Scorpius beamed in surprise.

‘Really? Where did you get that?’

‘I apparated to that place in the muggle village that I told you about on Monday.’ Albus was quite pleased with himself for making the trip, given that it had only been a couple of weeks since he’d passed his Apparition test, at the end of the winter term. ‘I didn’t even spill any on the way back!’ 

Scorpius looked suitably impressed. ‘I’m very proud of you,’ he said, lifting his cup. ‘Cheers. What did you get?’ 

‘Gingerbread latte,’ Albus said with a grin, as Scorpius mimed retching in response. He wasn’t a coffee fan, no matter how hard Albus tried to persuade him. ‘Stop being so dramatic,’ he laughed, swatting Scorpius’s arm, ‘I’m not making you drink it.’ 

Scorpius rolled his eyes. ‘ _Fine_ ,’ he said in mock offence, ‘But don’t bring it near me or I might _accidentally_ knock it off the counter.’ 

Albus knew Scorpius was joking, but held his coffee a little closer to his chest nonetheless - there was no way to get fancy coffees like this at school, so now it was the holidays he was determined to savour the opportunity. ‘Aren’t you just a little bit grateful, even if I did force you to be in the same room as a coffee?’ 

Scorpius’s faux expression of haughtiness melted away and he took a step closer, resting his free hand on Albus’s shoulder. ‘Course I am,’ he said, and leaned in to brush the softest of kisses on Albus’s cheek. The sudden tenderness took Albus by surprise and he felt himself flush red, his heart rate rushing a little faster than usual, even though he should be used to this by now. 

It had been four and a half months since a day trip to the coast in their post-sixth-year summer holidays had turned into rather more than Albus had bargained for. He’d found out later that it was Lily who’d engineered the elaborate Potter family seagull rescue plot which had resulted in Scorpius and Albus finding themselves alone on the beach while the others rushed to the nearest magical creature specialist to diagnose whatever mystery ailment had turned the seagull blue. The heat of the sun and the gentle lull of the waves had given the whole afternoon a hazy kind of feeling, and when they’d settled on the hot sand to nap, it had felt like the easiest thing in the world to just shuffle a little closer to Scorpius, to lace their fingers together, to rest his head on Scorpius’s shoulder. When Scorpius had leaned down a little, Albus had known that they were both thinking the same thing, and they’d closed the gap between their lips with no hesitation, as though they’d done it a hundred times before. 

The realisation of the line they’d crossed hadn’t hit until an hour or two later, after soft, salty kisses had given way to sleep in the afternoon sun, and then they’d been woken by Lily bounding across the sand towards them and shouting their names. They’d spent the evening exchanging nervous glances across the dinner table, until finally they could escape to the relative sanctuary of Albus’s attic room. There they had talked for hours in hushed tones, confessing everything that had gone unsaid until now and each revelling in the relief that they hadn’t been alone in their feelings. Lily knew, of course - that much was obvious - but the following morning they’d asked her to say nothing to any of the others. They’d agreed to take things slow, to figure out what they wanted this thing between them to become, and to not let the pressure of other people’s opinions get in the way. 

At school it had been surprisingly easy - stolen kisses in quiet corridors, peaceful moments of togetherness in an empty dorm - but at home for the holidays, Albus was never alone. These days he enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by family, but over the first week of the holidays he had even surprised himself with how much he missed Scorpius’s company. There was no way he was waiting till New Year’s Eve to see him again, so he’d asked his parents if he could stay a couple of nights at Malfoy Manor before Christmas, and was inwardly relieved when they’d agreed without asking any questions about the sudden change of plans. 

Now they were together, and alone, and Albus was determined not to waste a second. Before he could pull back too far, Albus snaked one hand around Scorpius’s waist and pulled him close again, hesitating for just a second to take in those wide, trusting eyes before pressing another kiss to his lips, soft but deliberate. Scorpius sighed a little, his shoulders relaxing as they melted together. Albus felt a tingle of excitement, but alongside it was a feeling of familiarity, which was growing stronger every time they embraced. It felt like home. 

Scorpius kissed him slowly, one thumb stroking Albus’s cheek and the taste of ginger and chocolate on his lips, and Albus let the rest of the world fall away. Until, that is, he moved to wrap his other arm around Scorpius, forgot he was holding a cup of coffee, and nearly spilled half of it across the floor.

‘Crap!’ Albus tore himself away from Scorpius and steadied the coffee cup with both hands in the nick of time. Scorpius looked confused for a split second, then looked down at Albus’s hands and burst out laughing. 

‘Coffee always comes first with you, doesn’t it?’

Albus checked the lid of the coffee was secure, then set it down gently on the counter. ‘Only if it’s Christmas coffee,’ he replied, and Scorpius rolled his eyes. ‘Hey, you’re the one who _actually_ spilled stuff all over the floor,’ Albus said indignantly. 

Scorpius reached for his wand on the table, and with a quick ‘scourgify’, most of the flour that still covered the tiles around them vanished. ‘Not messy anymore,’ he said with a satisfied nod. 

Albus folded his arms. ‘I thought you weren’t using magic.’

‘For the baking,’ Scorpius replied with a shrug, ‘Not the cleaning up part, I don’t want to waste time.’ He took a half-step closer to Albus. 

Albus felt the corners of his mouth twitch involuntarily as Scorpius started to make that face he did when he thought he was being smooth and suave, and in actual fact was being about as obvious as it was possible to be. He played along. ‘Waste time?’

Another half-step forward. Scorpius raised his hand and let his fingers rest lightly on Albus’s forearm. ‘Well, you know. Dad’s out all day. I thought perhaps we might want time for… other things.’ There was a kind of excited hesitation in his eyes, and Albus got the impression that perhaps Scorpius had been planning to say something else and changed his mind at the last minute. 

Albus couldn't resist. ‘Other things like what?’ he said, looking up at Scorpius with what he hoped was an expression of innocence and mild interest.

‘Um.’ Scorpius paused, his eyes flicking away momentarily. He clearly hadn’t thought this far ahead in the conversation. ‘Things like… um-’

As he floundered, Albus found himself unable to hold in his amusement. ‘It’s okay, I’m teasing,’ he laughed, ‘I appreciate the effort at flirting, but you don’t need to try quite so hard.’

Scorpius groaned. ‘I was trying to be…’ He cast around for the right word. ‘I don’t know, alluring.’

It was such a Malfoy-ish choice of adjective that Albus only laughed harder. ‘You’re always _alluring_ , my love.’ He leaned in to plant a quick kiss on Scorpius's cheek, then paused for a moment and whispered in his ear, ‘And for the record, I quite enjoyed the idea of… _other things_.’

A hint of blush pink lit up Scorpius’s cheeks. ‘See, you make that sound good, I just came across like an idiot,’ he sighed as Albus pulled back. 

‘Did not,’ Albus replied, reaching for his coffee once more. ‘You just need to be more confident, that’s all. We can practice.’

‘Oh great, flirting lessons with romance expert, Albus Potter.’

‘That’s me,’ Albus said, sticking his tongue out at Scorpius with an exaggerated wink. ‘Anyway, are you going to do any actual baking? Or are we just going to stand here flirting badly for hours while our drinks go cold?’

Scorpius gave a half-hearted attempt at an exasperated eye-roll. ‘You never did have any patience,’ he said, turning back to the counter, where the food mixer was still standing with its bowl half-full of ingredients. 

Together they studied the booklet of instructions, trying to match up the buttons on the mixer with their supposed functions. Albus had frankly no idea why one simple appliance needed quite so many buttons, and after a full six and a half minutes of confusion (not that he was counting), he eventually managed to persuade Scorpius to abandon the mixer altogether and do it by hand. 

Gradually the ingredients came together and began to resemble something like gingerbread mix, and Scorpius produced a selection of plastic cutters from a cupboard somewhere on the other side of the kitchen. ‘Look, these are the ones mum and I used to use to make biscuits when I was little,’ he said, holding a couple of the shapes up for Albus to see - one was in the shape of a snowman, another was a tiny Christmas tree. 

‘That’s very cute.’ Albus took one of cutters from Scorpius and turned it over in his hands, tracing the tree shape with one finger and picturing little Scorpius in this same kitchen, helping Astoria stir the mixture and stealing spoonfuls of icing when he thought she wasn't looking. He’d only met Scorpius’s mother a handful of times, and never for very long, but her presence was still etched around their home in a way that made him feel he’d known her well. 

They fell into a natural rhythm; Scorpius carefully cutting out shapes from the flattened dough and Albus scooping them up with a knife and laying them onto a large baking tray, setting them out like a jigsaw puzzle. Once the dough had been rolled and re-rolled to cut out as many biscuits as possible, Scorpius slotted the tray carefully into the oven and turned round to face Albus, who had pulled himself up to perch on the small section of counter which wasn't a mess of sugar and flour. 

‘That took longer than I thought,’ Scorpius said, strolling back towards Albus and surveying the mess.

‘It’ll be worth it though, they’ll taste amazing.’ Albus watched as Scorpius’s eyes ranged over the counter, and he fidgeted absent-mindedly with the cuff of his jumper. Watching Scorpius in off-guard moments like these always gave Albus some kind of specific, warm feeling in his chest that he didn’t know how to describe in words. 

‘I’m definitely using magic to clean this up,’ Scorpius muttered, mostly to himself. He swept a finger across the counter, drawing a gentle wave through the thick layer of flour.

‘Oh, but I so wanted to clean.’

Scorpius looked up at Albus with a split-second expression of confusion. ‘I thought you were being serious for a moment there,’ he said with a smile, ‘But I should have known better; Albus Potter being serious?’

Albus grinned back. ‘Never happened. Come here.’ 

Scorpius brushed the flour off his fingers and walked over, reaching out his right hand to lace his fingers with Albus’s left. Sitting on the counter like this, Albus was an inch or two taller than Scorpius, and he let his gaze drift slowly down from that familiar fluffy, white-blond hair to those wide, welcoming eyes and finally, soft, smiling lips. ‘I missed you,’ Albus whispered, even though he’d said it about twelve times already since arriving at Malfoy Manor yesterday evening.

The colour in Scorpius’s cheeks heightened, almost imperceptibly. ‘I know,’ he replied, his voice steady and calm.

Albus stroked Scorpius’s palm softly with one thumb, and Scorpius gazed down at their hands entwined. 

‘You’re supposed to say you missed me too,’ Albus said. 

Scorpius looked up and met his eyes, then gave a casual shrug. ‘Didn’t really notice you weren’t here, to be honest,’ he replied, and Albus laughed as he leaned in for a kiss. Scorpius lips were soft on his and they smiled into one another, hands finding each other’s waists as Scorpius stepped forward and slotted himself between Albus’s knees. 

Thoughts drifted idly through Albus’s mind as they kissed, mostly focused on the warmth of Scorpius’s body pressed against his; the gentle, shifting pressure of his mouth; the scent of some sweet, fruity shampoo lingering in his hair. They’d gotten pretty good at this, he thought to himself at one point, given that neither of them had had any real practice before this year. After a minute or two he felt Scorpius’s hand resting softly on his thigh, and a part of him wondered what else they might get good at in the future. For now, it was enough to be here together without the constant paranoia of someone waiting around the corner to catch them unawares. 

Albus let himself relax, the room fading around them. Scorpius’s right hand was in his hair, and the left, he noted, was starting to make steady progress up his thigh. That was new. The light seemed to change - something green in the corner of his vision - but he wasn’t about to let anything distract him from this moment. Then- _bang._

Their eyes snapped open; Albus pushed Scorpius back as though he’d been electrocuted.

‘Hey little bro! You arou-’ A loud voice rang out through the room and just as quickly, fell silent. ‘Oh.’

James Potter stood in front of the vast fireplace at the end of the kitchen, the green flames of the floo network dying behind him, clad in the most garish red and green outfit Albus had ever seen. 

Scorpius had shuffled a few steps further from the counter and was blushing deep crimson, and Albus half-jumped, half-fell from the counter, his heart racing and his hands now covered in flour from his hasty scrabble to the floor. Silence hung between the three of them, excruciating. How much had his brother seen? 

James looked between the two of them, his mouth still hanging open, mid-sentence. The expression made him look even madder, and as he turned to face Albus, the faint sound of jingling bells broke the silence - coming from the pointed green hat he had crammed on at an angle over his dark auburn hair. 

His eyes met Albus’s and each of them seemed as paralysed as the other. ‘I… ’ James began to say in a strangled voice, then cleared his throat and tried again. ‘I didn’t mean to… to, um, interrupt.’

Albus wanted to die. The only words that managed to escape his (extremely dry) mouth were, ‘Why are you dressed like that?’

James glanced down at his outfit as if he hadn't realised what he was wearing, then looked up, apologetic. ‘I’m an elf,’ he said sheepishly, gesturing to the striped tunic and shorts, ‘I’m going to St Mungo’s with Neville, there’s a few of us going to give out Christmas presents to people on the long-term wards.’ 

‘Oh.’ Albus was intensely aware of Scorpius standing stock-still a few feet away, focused intently on the floor. 

‘I was just-’ James floundered, his expression helpless, ‘Was just coming round to see if I could borrow your red trainers; I couldn't find them in your room at home. These don't really, um, go. With the rest of the outfit, you know.’ He lifted up a foot to indicate his black and white sports shoes, which did indeed rather spoil the head-to-toe Christmas effect. 

‘I’ll go and find them!’ Scorpius chimed in suddenly, and Albus and James both turned to look at him. ‘I think those are the ones you were wearing yesterday, right Al?’ His voice was higher than usual, and Albus could see a flash of desperation behind Scorpius’s eyes. ‘They’re probably upstairs. I’ll go and look.’ With that he turned and practically ran from the kitchen, letting the door swing closed behind him and leaving the brothers alone in tense silence. 

They stood at opposite ends of the room, and Albus desperately tried to calm the tangle of thoughts in his mind. Why hadn’t James just _owled_ him about the shoes, for Merlin’s sake?

As he tried to form something resembling a coherent sentence, James fidgeted and then took a few steps forward, all in a rush. ‘I can pretend I didn’t see, if-’

‘No.’ Albus suddenly found his voice. ‘You weren’t supposed to know- er, weren’t supposed to find out like this, but, er-’

James cut in again. ‘But if you’d rather I didn’t-’

‘It’s fine.’ They both fell silent again, looking at the floor. Albus heard James take a deep breath and sidle a little closer to him, then felt a nervous pat on his shoulder and knew it was James’s way of apologising. A sudden rush of emotion hit him, something between affection and fear and a tinge of sadness at this imperceptible barrier between them. He tried to find something to say, but his voice didn’t seem to be working. 

James let his hand rest on Albus’s shoulder, and when he spoke his voice was surprisingly quiet. ‘If you need- if you want to talk, I’m, um, here. If you want. But if you’d rather not, that’s fine too. And I won’t say anything to anyone, if you don’t want me to. Obviously. And I- I mean, whatever you want, I, um- love you, you know. I love you, whatever.’ He tailed off, and Albus could hear the frown in his voice. 

Albus didn’t know what to think. His heart rate seemed to be slowing, somehow, but his palms were sweaty and his ears were straining to detect any sounds from upstairs. He had a feeling that Scorpius wasn’t looking for those shoes at all. 

James stayed still at his side, and a war raged in Albus’s brain - between the part that wanted to send James home as fast as possible, avoiding all eye contact and preferably all words, and the part that it seemed had secretly been longing for an opportunity to have this conversation and was edging on relief that it was finally here. Eventually the second part won. He held his breath for a moment longer, gathering all the courage he could, and glanced up to meet James’s gaze. His brother’s eyes were wide, full of trepidation, and of sympathy. 

‘I’m really sorry, Al,’ James said. Albus had never seen him so sincere. 

‘It’s okay,’ Albus replied, and meant it. ‘Erm. What did you actually see?’ It was a stupid question, he thought as soon as he’d said it. He was thinking about Scorpius’s hand edging its way up his thigh. 

‘Nothing! I mean, nothing bad.’ James grimaced. ‘Not _bad._ Nothing… nothing to be embarrassed about, I guess. You were just, er, kissing. You looked happy. Then I arrived and ruined everything and you practically punched Scorpius in the face.’ He finished with an awkward laugh.

Albus nodded, strangely reassured. There was no going back now, he supposed. ‘We, um- we do that now, sort of. Me and Scorpius.’

James was silent for a second, and something like the hint of smile played at the corner of his mouth. ‘It didn’t look like the first time it had happened, to be honest.’ 

Albus felt a blush rising to his cheeks. ‘It wasn’t.’

There was no doubt about it, James was definitely smiling now. ‘How long have you been doing it?’ he asked, then suddenly looked panic-stricken. ‘Not _doing it_ , crap- I meant how long have you, er- been, you know-’ He gesticulated wildly with his hands and set the bells on his hat ringing again. ‘Been, er, not just friends. If you want to say, of course. You don’t have to.’ 

Albus laughed, relieved that James seemed to be just as nervous as he was. ‘Since August,’ he replied, his voice surprisingly steady, ‘That day at the beach with the seagull. It just… happened. I think it had been sort of building up to that point for a while.’

James nodded, processing the information.

Albus leaned back against the kitchen counter. ‘Did you really have no idea?’ he asked, feeling bolder. He watched his brother’s expression change as he considered his thoughts. 

‘I didn’t know about this,’ James said eventually, gesturing vaguely to the spot where Albus and Scorpius had been embracing minutes before, ‘But I’m not entirely surprised.’ James mirrored Albus, resting back on the counter so that they were shoulder to shoulder. 

‘We didn’t want everybody to know straight away,’ Albus continued, words coming easier the more he spoke. ‘After everything in fourth year, people talking about us, we thought it would be easier to hide- no, not hide- erm, easier to keep things quiet for a while, so we could figure it out between the two of us first, I guess.’

‘I get you,’ James said quickly, his tone subdued. 

Albus felt a sudden spike of nerves. ‘And I, erm, wasn’t sure if people might- if you might… disapprove.’

James looked up at him sharply, his eyes searching. ‘Disapprove? Why?’

Suddenly Albus wanted to run very far away. He swallowed and twisted the cord on his hoody between his fingers. ‘Because it’s Scorpius,’ he said quietly, ‘Because he’s a Malfoy. Because he…’ Albus tailed off and the pronoun floated in the air between them.

James let out a sigh. ‘Oh, Al,’ he said, and stretched an arm around Albus’s shoulders, squeezing him tight. ‘I would never, ever disapprove.’ 

Albus found, to his mild horror, that tears were welling in the corners of his eyes. He let himself rest his head against James’s shoulder and mumbled, ‘Okay.’

They stayed like that for a little while, Albus letting relief wash over him like a tide and trying to blink back the tears that were still threatening to fall. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,’ he whispered after a minute or two, then felt James shaking his head vigorously. 

‘You don’t have to apologise,’ he said firmly, ‘You needed to wait till you were ready.’

‘It was going to be over the holidays.’ Albus brought a hand to his face to try and subtly wipe some of the moisture from his eyes. ‘Scorpius is telling his dad soon too.’ 

‘Al, I’m not mad.’ James looped his other arm around Albus and pulled him into a hug. ‘I’m…’ his voice wavered. ‘I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell me.’

‘You didn’t.’ Albus’s voice was muffled against James’s shoulder, and he hugged his brother back tightly. He didn’t know why tears were still squeezing from the corners of his eyes, but when James squeezed his shoulders and whispered, ‘I’m proud of you’, Albus found himself unable to speak for several minutes. 

Gradually the raw, sharp feeling in his heart gave way to something more measured, and his eyes dried a little, and he loosened his grip on his brother. James pulled back from their hug and looked down at Albus, his own eyes looking decidedly watery. His gaze flicked between Albus’s pupils, and he seemed to be deciding whether or not to say something. Eventually he took a breath and started to speak. ‘Al, are you-’

Something in Albus’s instincts flared, scared of the question he knew was coming. ‘I don’t know, okay,’ he cut James off mid-sentence, his tone rather more abrupt than he’d intended. ‘I’ve thought about it, and I can’t tell, there’s not really been anyone else for a long time- boys _or_ girls- and I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like to be, erm-’

‘Woah, woah, slow down.’ James placed a hand on each of his shoulders and pushed him back to arm’s length. ‘That’s not what I was asking. But if we’re on that subject, you don’t have to decide. Like, now or ever. It’s up to you and if you don’t want to label this thing, I’m not gonna force you. Or let anyone else force you, for that matter.’ 

‘Oh.’ Albus felt rather stupid. ‘Sorry.’

‘Merlin’s beard, stop apologising, you idiot.’ James shook his head and laughed. 

‘Sorry,’ Albus repeated, smiling in spite of himself as James rolled his eyes. ‘What were you going to ask?’

James gave him a strange look, almost wistful. ‘I was going to say,’ he said, fixing his eyes on Albus’s, ‘Are you happy?’

Albus was taken a little by surprise. His mind rolled through a series of images from the past few months - sitting under a blanket with Scorpius at the top of the astronomy tower, watching the stars; holding hands and talking as they walked through a deserted seventh-floor corridor; kisses that tasted of chocolate and ginger. He knew he was grinning involuntarily. ‘Really happy,’ he said. 

James beamed, and reached a hand up to ruffle Albus’s hair. For once, Albus didn’t duck away. They broke into laughter, and just then came a soft knocking at the kitchen door. 

‘S’okay Scorp, you can come in,’ Albus called across the room. A timid blond head peeked around the doorframe and Scorpius’s sheepish expression gave the distinct impression he might have been listening outside for the right moment to enter. 

‘I found the shoes,’ he ventured as he stepped through the door, holding the pair of red Converse trainers out in front of him. 

‘Amazing!’ James bounded across the room to take the shoes from Scorpius. ‘Thanks, mate.’ 

Scorpius looked pleased, if a little apprehensive. ‘You’re welcome,’ he replied, then looked to Albus. ‘Everything okay?’ 

Albus nodded, shooting Scorpius his most reassuring expression. ‘Everything’s good. Right, James?’

‘Everything’s great,’ James replied, clapping Scorpius on the shoulder. ‘I’m really happy for you both.’

At that, Scorpius smiled nervously and mumbled something Albus couldn't quite make out. 

There was a slight pause, then James clapped his hands together. ‘Right, best leave you two to it! Thanks for the shoes.’ He winked at Scorpius and started to head back towards the fireplace at the other end of the room, swinging the trainers by their laces. 

‘You don’t have to go,’ Albus called after him, ‘If you want to hang out.’

James swung around to face them both. ‘Nah, got to get to my elf duties!’ he said happily, wiggling his head so that the bells on his hat jingled again. He did look utterly ridiculous, Albus thought to himself. ‘And besides,’ James continued as he scooped a handful of floo powder from the pot on the mantelpiece and threw it into the grate, ‘Wouldn’t want to be hanging around as a third wheel while things get all hot and steamy in here!’

Scorpius let out a kind of spluttering cough, and Albus felt his face grow hot and red. ‘That’s not- we aren’t- we haven’t done anyth-’

James looked back from the fireplace with a devilish grin. ‘Hot and steamy from the oven, you idiot! What did you think I meant?’ He raised one eyebrow, shot Albus a wink, and vanished in a roar of green flames. 

Albus buried his face in his hands. ‘He’s actually mental,’ he said despairingly. 

Scorpius laughed as he crossed the room. He pulled Albus’s hands gently away from his face and laced their fingers together. ‘Was it alright?’ he said seriously, ‘I felt awful that he caught us like that, I should have thought about the floo-’

‘It was good,’ Albus said, squeezing Scorpius’s hands in reassurance. ‘He knows now, he was fine about it.’

‘And you feel okay about it?’

Albus nodded. ‘Better than okay. I feel… well, relieved, mostly. I don’t think I’d realised how much I wanted to tell him.’

A beeping noise started up somewhere behind them and Scorpius glanced over Albus’s shoulder. ‘Ignore that, it’s just the timer for the biscuits,’ he said dismissively, ‘I’m really pleased. I am going to tell Dad soon too, I promise.’

‘There’s no rush.’

Scorpius shrugged. ‘I know. I think he’ll be fine, really. Just got to find the right time.’ He looked suddenly pensive. ‘What did you tell James we were?’ 

‘What do you mean, what we were?’ Albus was confused. 

Scorpius gave him a meaningful look. ‘I mean, the two of us. I know we’re together, kind of, but did you tell him we were…’ He looked like he wanted Albus to finish the sentence. 

‘What?’ Something deep in Albus’s chest told him this conversation was significant. ‘Are you asking if I told him that we were boyfriends?’

‘Mm.’ Scorpius glanced away, noncommittal. 

Albus took a deep breath. ‘No.’

‘Oh.’ Scorpius's face fell, just a little. 

‘But,’ Albus continued, and a tiny spark of hope flared behind Scorpius’s eyes. ‘I _could_ tell him that. If you wanted. If that’s… what we are.’

Scorpius bit his lip, trying to mask a shy smile, and Albus had the sudden urge to close the distance between them. Instead he waited for Scorpius to choose his words. ‘If that’s what you want,’ he said eventually. 

Albus raised an eyebrow. ‘Why do you always say things like that?’ he said, ‘Of course it’s what I want.’

‘Oh,’ Scorpius repeated, smiling widely now, ‘Then it’s what I want too.’

‘Well, that’s settled then,’ Albus said, finally giving in to his desire and pulling Scorpius towards him. He was millimetres away from a kiss when Scorpius suddenly gasped. 

‘The biscuits!’ he cried suddenly, and pushed Albus out of the way to run to the oven. 

Albus laughed, watching him frantically stabbing at the buttons controlling the temperature and pulling open the door. Thankfully there were no billowing clouds of smoke, and the tray of gingerbreads Scorpius pulled from the oven looked perfectly golden and appetising.

They rearranged bowls and utensils on the counter to make space for two large cooling racks and carefully transferred the biscuits from the trays, organising them - at Scorpius’s insistence - into neat sections by shape and size. 

‘Time for icing!’ declared Scorpius in a sing-song voice, depositing a huge jar of powdered sugar on the kitchen table in front of Albus. The next hour passed in a flurry of mixing, colouring, piping, and desperately trying to tidy the mess as they went along. Two plates of biscuits were slowly filled - Scorpius’s decorated somewhat haphazardly in greens, reds and whites, and Albus’s piped precisely with abstract designs in significantly less festive colours: bright blues, oranges, and yellows. Finally finished, they sat back to admire their handiwork. 

‘Do you think Dad will like them?’ Scorpius asked, stifling a yawn. 

Albus leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. ‘I think he’ll like yours,’ he said, ‘But I have to be honest, I sort of forgot we were supposed to be making them for him and just, erm, followed my artistic instincts.’

Scorpius snorted. ‘Well, you have always been the creative one of the two of us, I suppose.’

‘I’ll take it,’ Albus said with a shrug. ‘I need another coffee.’

‘Bleugh. I need another hot chocolate.’ 

Albus poked Scorpius softly on the shoulder. ‘How can you still want anything that sugary? I feel like my teeth are about to fall out from how sweet this icing is.’

Scorpius turned to face him and leaned in closer, his eyes soft. ‘Not as sweet as you are, darling,’ he said, fluttering his eyelashes. 

Albus laughed, then groaned, then wrapped an arm around Scorpius’s shoulder and kissed the tip of his nose. ‘You really do need all the flirting help you can get, don’t you?’

Scorpius shuffled across in his chair and pulled Albus’s arm further around himself. ‘Good job I have a romance expert boyfriend to teach me then, isn’t it?’

‘Isn’t it just,’ Albus said with a contented sigh. _Boyfriend_ , he thought, the word rolling itself over in his mind. He glanced around the room, vaguely taking in the mess of ingredients and baking equipment that still littered the surfaces of the counter and table. At the forefront of his mind though were snippets of his conversation with James replaying themselves, and a feeling of warm, heavy happiness that had something to do with that and a lot to do with the boy - _boyfriend_ \- currently snuggled at his side. If this was what it was like being boyfriends, he thought, inhaling deeply and savouring the scent of ginger, well then; he could get used to this. 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas from Marolley!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this extremely cheesy, fluffy, sentimental fic for the festive season. Words are by Rosie, gorgeous art by Mari. We'd love to read your comments, or you can find us on: 
> 
> 🎄 Mari  
> tumblr: marisdrawings  
> twitter: smolbus
> 
> 🎄 Rosie  
> tumblr/twitter: trolleybitch


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